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Friday, September 26, 2014

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post.

MRI Done

I had my first MRI ever this week. I had no clue what it would entail so asked my surgeon and he said, it uses magnetism and takes a better picture than the mammogram. Well, first they inject dye into you which they couldn't do the first time I went because my veins were too small in my left arm. When I had my lumpectomy done five years ago on my right breast, don't ever let anyone take your blood pressure, vaccinate you, or take blood or poke you in your right arm. Always use your left. Now all of a sudden, my surgeon says "It's a small risk, go ahead and let them use your right arm if they have to." Well, the technician really liked my vein in my right arm and got the dye in the first try with no problem--it didn't hurt at all!

I had to lay still on my stomach though for half an hour. I never lay on my stomach so wasn't exactly comfortable but I managed. Then she game me headphones to help drown out the loud noise. It really was LOUD and sounded like a jack hammer pounding right in my ears. She added some music but that didn't help-it just made it even more annoying! I was relieved it was over and I was out of there in an hour, but by the time I went to bed, I had a headache and woke up with it. Not sure if it was from the loud banging noise in my ears for so long or just from all the stress. I actually took an Advil and totally skipped my morning computer time and laid down instead! Even my husband asked me what was wrong.

Reading

I actually missed my bus stop coming home twice this week and not just by one stop, but by 3 or 4! It still wasn't too far a walk home but the first time, I was reading my book and just couldn't keep my eyes open because I was so tired. The second day, I was engrossed reading the same book (REVEALED by Tamera Alexander)and missed it again.

Cleveland Indians

My Indians are now officially out of the playoffs but they had a good season and hung in to the end. I'm hoping the Browns can put some wins together this year and win over half their games. They are 1 for 3 but each game went right down to the end.

Sunday School

So far I have six kids in my 5th grade Sunday School class and am loving it! They are SO good and all are really trying to learn the memory passage (Proverbs 3:3-7) which is one of my favorite passages. One of the boys quoted it all last week and one girl stayed after to try learning it all--it was the first time she came! I found exactly the prizes I had in mind at Walmart: candy, cookies, munchies at $1.00 each. I was thrilled because when I looked for these things at Giant Eagle, I couldn't find them.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

After having our house in disarray for almost three weeks due to redecorating, it was so worth it! Sue, a long-time friend and owner of her own business--Sue's Helping Hands, painted and tiled three of our rooms for us and we love how they look now! We went from dull and drab to bold and colorful. Here are the before and after shots:

Friday, September 19, 2014

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post.

What a Relief!

My husband gave me a real scare last Sunday. On the way home from church I got a call from him whining saying "I had an accident!" I asked him where he was and he said outside our house. I was only about 3 minutes away so said I was close and would be home soon. (I really like our Ford Escape which has a cell phone feature that I can answer and talk on my cell without taking it out of my pocket, so please, no lectures about using the cell phone while driving.) Turns out he was just fine, and his "accident" was spilling the dog's water while falling over our cat, Manny Boy who ran right in front of him. The water got on our newly painted kitchen wall and made a big ugly spot. He's such a drama queen. I was so glad he really wasn't in an accident!

Frightened at Lunch

Yesterday was nice enough to go to a nearby park area at lunch time. I had some multi-grain chips with me, but unfortunately, I think they attracted a bee. This bee came really close to me and I was afraid it was going to crawl on me. I got up and it followed me so I dropped the bag of chips on the ground, hoping it would follow the bag, but it didn't. Finally, after standing relatively still and praying that God would protect me from this bee so I wouldn't get stung, I no longer saw it's shadow and so picked up the bag, closed it up tight, walked the rest of my lunch hour and finished my chips when I got inside.

Work

I had another CRAZY busy week! I am feeling like a juggler lately, trying to keep everything going but at the end of the day, I think I was only caught up one out of five this week even with working 45 minutes extra. I look forward to a better work week next week with my main boss out of town all week and the secretary who was on vacation that I backed up for will be back.

Redecorating

We are very pleased with how our rooms turned out and that everything is back in the right place. I moved some pictures around too. I'll put pictures up in a separate post this week. Whew!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Talk about serious! Did you ever see a more serious first grader? This is me in my favorite dark blue navy dress before I got my glasses and when I was the only child in our family. I think I look pretty tough in this picture like I'm thinking, "better not mess with me!" I like this picture of me--it really captures my personality at the time.

4th Grade with a smile

Then, I go from that to worse! By fourth grade, I looked like this. I absolutely hate this picture of me. My mom liked curls but went a bit overboard for my taste. I didn't like this dress either and the glasses make me look dorky I think. I did smile for this picture, trying to make myself look nicer.

By this time, I knew Jesus as my personal Savior and wasn't too worried about my appearance. One of my favorite verses at this point in my life was I Samuel 16:7 which says:

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (KJV)

Which picture do you like better?

Used Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt: Throwback time: share an old class photo of yourself. Why not join in and share one of your old class photos too? (or one of the other 4 prompts if you like)

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

I left work early today because I had to go for an MRI. When the technician came out for me, her first words after "How are you?" were "I'm sure you heard about the horror stories with MRIs."

I said, "No, I haven't, and I don't want to." What a greeting!

Then when she was trying to give me the injection, she couldn't find a vein big enough. She tried about five different places before she finally gave up and said she couldn't do it.

She tried calling my surgeon who ordered the MRI to let him know and see what he wanted to do, such as maybe an ultrasound, but his office closed early today. She'll call him in the morning.

I'm not sure what to think about this except that I'm in God's hands and He is in control. At least I saved my insurance company some money. They should thank me for my tiny veins. Too bad I wasted 3.5 hours of my personal time off though; not the way I would choose to use it but at least I didn't take off the whole day.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Later this week we are finally having Sue's Helping Hands lay down tile in our kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Although it will take 3-4 days since Sue is working alone (so far her helpers are all busy), it will be worth it. The linoleum is so old, Gerard can't get it clean anymore which is extremely frustrating for "Mr. Clean." I never did like the kitchen linoleum but chose to live with it for 17 years. We will be using the same color tile in all three rooms to provide some continuity. In the meantime though, our living room will be loaded with all our dining room furniture and perhaps the kitchen table as well. Since we won't be able to walk on the new tile for 8 hours, the kitchen and dining room have to be done in sections so we can get to our front door. At least one of the days, we will have to go out the front door and in the side door to get to the basement (Gerard's bathroom is down there). Not looking forward to the obstacle course part.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

I never heard of Raycom Media until this week when they pulled Channel 19 from DirecTV so I can't watch the Browns/Steelers game tomorrow at home. Now they also pulled it from Dish and Cox! This is really mean and greedy of Raycom Media, owner of Channel 19. Boo on Raycom Media!

I am upset about this but I guess I won't be watching many Browns games this season unless DirecTV can come to some sort of agreement. Maybe one of my friends will be able to get the game, and invite me over to watch with them. I can only hope! Hint! Hint!

UPDATE: They reached an agreement the day of the game! I was able
to watch the Browns come from 27-3 at half time to tie the game and lose
it in the last 10 seconds with a field goal by the Steelers. Too bad
they didn't start playing until the second half.

There were some bright spots though:

1) They actually had a running game going even with the first string running back hurt and out of the game early.

2) QB Hoyer played very well the second half (except for that last series when they went 3 and out.)

3) They did much better than I expected. I thought they would get blown away.

Friday, September 5, 2014

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post.

Direct TV-Browns Games

This week we found out that there is a dispute between Fox and Direct TV which basically amounts to not being able to watch the Browns games on DirectTV. Again, due to plain greediness on the part of Fox, wanting Direct TV to pay double for the otherwise free programming. I don't quite understand it, but hope I can find somewhere to watch the games.

Funeral

My brother-in-laws funeral was quite different from what I am used to since he was Catholic. I never heard of having "prayers" at the funeral home first and then moving everyone over to the church for the mass. I don't understand why they couldn't do it all at the church. I thought it was kind of nice though when the funeral procession turned down his street to take him by his house on last time.

Painting Progress

We're finally almost done. Our living room and dining room should get finished today, I hope. Right now, our living room is completely useless since even the TV is unplugged. I get a headache when I look at the mess.

Monday, September 1, 2014

I am a very good dog . . . usually. Of course, there is one exception and that is when I find a nice salad bar, I like to take my time and enjoy it.

Being a bit stubborn at West Creek Park

See how my mom is trying to pull me along with my blue leash? I held my ground though and finished my salad, ignoring her commands of heel and come. If she had brought treats along for me, that may have made a difference. Hint, hint. Hope you all enjoy the journey as much as I do!